


Sadly Obedient

by AbbeyTheWeeb



Category: 16th Century CE RPF, Historical RPF, The Six Wives of Henry VIII (TV 1970), The Tudors (TV)
Genre: Character Death, Cheating, Dead Parent, Execution, F/M, Grief/Mourning, Poor kids, awful husband
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-23
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:07:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27677147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AbbeyTheWeeb/pseuds/AbbeyTheWeeb
Summary: The little Lady Elizabeth asks her ex-stepmother, Anna of Cleves, what will become of her friend, Katheryn Howard. It leaves Anna in fear of the future for her and others that have been in her place before and her loved ones.
Relationships: Anne of Cleves/Henry VIII of England, Henry VIII of England/Katherine Howard
Comments: 2
Kudos: 22





	Sadly Obedient

A little dog barks, which catches Anna’s attention. She first looks at the little dog and then the doorway. 

“Auntie?” 

The little Elizabeth appears in the doorway, her voice is timid and hollow. She has been at Richmond Palace for a couple of days now to avoid all the horrific things they are doing at the royal court. Richmond Palace is the place where Anna calls home, the large castle was given by the king more than a year ago. 

The way how Elizabeth is presenting herself is quite strange to Anna, her head is down low and she is biting her little lip. Anna puts her little book and sets it on the table. “Yes, dear? Is there anything wrong?” 

Elizabeth opens her mouth, yet nothing comes out of it. It is as if she has lost the ability to speak. This makes Anna even more confused, normally the girl always knows what she is about to say in less than a second. Anna rises from her chair and slowly walks toward Elizabeth and she couches down to get to her level so she doesn’t look intimidating.

“Auntie,” Elizabeth puts her hands on her little dress and grips it, “I fear it is not right what I was going to say.” 

Anna takes a deep breath and nods. She goes up to the door opening and no one is there to hear them. The only one around is the little dog in the room, chewing away a little bone. She ushers Elizabeth in the room and she closes the door softly. “It’s alright, no one is near. You can vent about your problems if you like.”

“But it is about my father.” 

Elizabeth’s father is the King of England, Henry Tudor. Anna was married to him for six months less than two years ago, however, Henry thought she was a disgusting creature and divorced her. Luckily, the feeling was mutual, since Anna thought her husband smelt distasteful and was incredibly old and ugly. He still is, but even worse. Anna is so lucky that the annulment went so smoothly, unlike another one that happened around a decade ago. Anna puts her soft hand on Elizabeth’s little shoulder to comfort her. “It’s alright, I will not tell anyone, my dear.”

“Why is he calling my friend, Katheryn, the Devil?” Elizabeth pouts her lip. 

The little dog growls in the corner and goes straight back to devour its bone. 

Little Katheryn Howard. Henry Tudor’s fifth queen. His fourth queen in less than a decade. The one that replaced Anna to become Queen of England. Anna has no quarrel with her, only the highest respect for her. But Anna knew from the start that Katheryn was too young for her position as the most powerful woman in England. She was only the age of seventeen, while her husband at that time was aging to fifty. Yes, marriages like that did happen, however, normally the older would only marry a young girl for her lands and title. Henry married Katheryn for lust and fulfill his fantasies. Anna knew that the poor girl had a dark past, but never knew what it was about. But now, everyone in England knows that past. Katheryn wasn’t a virgin when she married the king and she laid with another when she was married. Anna does not know where to begin. “Well, Elizabeth, well… Katheryn committed something that was extremely treasonous.”

“But she only loved another. My father did the same, he loved many. Like Jane.” 

The way the little girl said “Jane” made Anna swallow up in fear. Elizabeth is now starting to understand what happened to her own mother, how Henry beheaded her so the king would openly lust for Jane Seymour and declare her his queen. Jane was long gone now, she died from childbirth after a long delivery of Prince Edward. But many say that the spirit of Jane should be thankful for her death since she didn’t get the back of her neck beaten in from an ax. Anna sighs, she wishes that none of her predecessors lived their awful horrible ends. Anna has to be grateful that she did not go down those dark paths, however, she still lives in fear since she knows her end is still very far away. “Well, it’s very different for queens. When they take lovers and get pregnant, no one can tell if the child is the king's or the lover’s. That is why it is treason.” 

“But… but…,” Elizabeth looks down and tears start to form in her eyes. “Father and Mr. Cromwell said I was Henry Norris’s child until I started to grow my hair and look like my father.” 

She is too young for this, Anna thinks. The Lady Elizabeth is only eight years old and so many awful things happened to her each year she is alive. The little girl befriended Katheryn Howard when she became queen. Katheryn is Anne Boleyn’s cousin, somewhat looking like her but more childish and plumper. But Henry Tudor is the man that will kill anyone that will make his large ego crack just a tiny bit. 

Anna can remember many of the names of the people that the king has killed. Aske, More, Anne Boleyn and her brother, Henry Norris, Margaret Pole, Cromwell, and so many others. Some of them somewhat deserved it, but most were killed by Henry’s large lust for women. Now Katheryn and her two lovers will be horrifically executed next. 

Elizabeth starts to cry, her voice gets high pitched as her emotions control her. “Why… why would my father kill my friend? She is so nice to me. She gives me little gifts and makes me so happy. Father has already killed my mother and my uncle Georgie. Auntie Anna, are you next?”

Anna pauses, she wishes she is not next. She shakes her head, yet she is unsure she should even do it. “I try to be obedient and not raise odd questions to your father. Your father does not want to be shunned by others. He does not like his actions or himself to be questioned.” 

That’s how Anne Boleyn fell, she always questioned Henry’s faith towards her. 

Elizabeth bellows a loud sob and Anna pulls her in for a tight embrace. She rubs the girls back and wonders if Henry would ever embrace his children if they were brave enough to show their emotions to their cruel father. Elizabeth mumbles, “but I am questioning him, does that mean I am going to be executed?” 

Anna embraces the girl tighter. “He will never do that with his own daughter,” she hushes, but Anna knows the true answer. If Henry’s anger is great enough, he will. He has already threatened to behead his other daughter, the Lady Mary. The image of the little Elizabeth going up on the scaffold, her body shaking as everyone stares down at her, now questioning again if she is not the daughter of the King of England. She goes to the block, lays down her tiny head and the executioner raises his ax. Anna bites her lip hard as she thinks of it. “As long as he does not hear it, you are more than safe.” 

The little dog in the corner stretches its back and waddles to Elizabeth to whine. The little dog was a present from Katheryn Howard a year back. Anna gazes at the dog’s eyes, so glassy and adorable. Its original owner will probably want the little Elizabeth to have it as a parting gift as the owner heads to the afterlife to meet her predecessors Katherine, Anne, and Jane. 

“I will miss Katheryn,” Elizabeth mumbles. 

“I will as well,” Anna stops the embrace to pick up the little dog. Elizabeth wipes her eyes and smiles at the dog and pats its little head. The dog barks happily. Anna grins. “This dog used to belong to Katheryn. She originally gave it to me last year, but I think she would like you to have it.” 

Anna lets the girl take the dog in her arms and it licks her face. Elizabeth giggles and hugs the little dog. “Thank you for the puppy, Auntie, and letting me tell you my troubles,” she squeaks.” 

Anna takes her thumb and wipes the king’s daughter’s tears off her rosy cheeks and makes a homely smile. “Your welcome, my dear. You can do so at any time. This is a difficult time for many people.” 

Elizabeth nods, her rosy cheeks shining brightly from the light coming from the window. “I’ll now be off practicing Latin with my new puppy.”

“Wonderful, I’ll ask the cooks to start to make dinner. I’ll get you when it is done.” 

Anna places a kiss on Elizabeth’s cheek and the king’s daughter opens the door and scrambles off, the dog following her and yapping, leaving Anna in the room by herself with her thoughts. There are a few things on her mind, one of them being about Henry. Will he really kill his little daughter? She is only a small girl that has no chance of being queen. She is illegitimate, she cannot reach the throne since she is the daughter of Anne Boleyn. Plus, there is little Prince Edward, who will become the King of England when his father finally succumbs to his leg and obesity. Would Henry really have the heart of killing innocent children? There were rumors that there were many children killed in the rebellion of the North. 

Henry already went through five wives. Two annulled. One dead. One beheaded and one soon to be beheaded. Anna hopes Katheryn is the last wife of Henry, but he will probably take another in less than two. If his lust is that grand, perhaps less than a year. No one can tell what goes on in his crazed mind. Does he regret his actions? Probably not. Does he want to kill everyone in England? Not everyone, but many of the people in the country. There are so many other questions, but Anna cannot get them on the top of her head. 

She sighs and puts her hands on her face, she now has a headache worrying about the future of the land she calls home for the year and a half. She goes to her chair and takes her french hood off and sets it on the table She takes out the bun that holds her honey blonde hair and it tumbles down to her waistline. 

Wherever Katheryn is, Anna hopes her execution is not painful in the slightest. There were reports that Thomas Cromwell had a horrendous execution, his shoulder blades being sliced open multiple times before his head dropped to the little basket. 

A memory flashes in Anna’s mind, the time where she danced alongside Katheryn on one of the days of Christmastide. Henry was already asleep, his leg was aching him. So Anna and Katheryn danced, the two queens laughed and sang. Anna makes a somber smile when she could relive the dancing, how Katheryn’s rosy cheeks and her mouth was smiling. Simpler times were then, now they were not queens. Anna is still well and happy while Katheryn awaits for the time she puts her head on the block. 

Katheryn is only a girl of eighteen, she does not deserve to die. A poor simple child that needed a friend when the king was still bound to her. Anna touches her neck and swallows. Unlike reckless Katheryn and Anne, Anna has to be obedient as a little child to still be alive.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading ! im much more into the henry viii time period than the american revolution, but i do all my fics american revolution. So i decided to change that,,,


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